Responsibilities and Proposals
by NotPopularAtAll
Summary: After the events ocurred with Drago and his army, Berk is left with Hiccup as a ruler. Being Chief, he convokes a gathering with the leaders of some tribes in the Archipelago and beyond. Things start to get troubling after the arrival of someone who brings a marriage proposal to one of the Chiefs.
1. I

_Chief of Berk, Hiccup Haddock the Third. Still not used to that. It's have been almost a month since that day, well, actually I don't know exactly what time it is because when you get so many chiefly duties at once, you kinda lose track of time. I must say I'm fine, I'm keeping up, I think. The gang has split, at least for now, until things settle. Fishlegs has followed his heart into teaching kids dragon and Viking history, also started to make some scientific discoveries here and there, I can't be more proud, sometimes I pass by to his place to help him to sort things out. Snotlout, he is actually helping his dad with some assignments I gave to him, but also he gets some hours of his busy schedule to help Gobber testing some new weapons. The twins, they have moderated themselves with the jokes and have become somehow productive. Their nature of destroying and making chaos is helping to gather some resources for the new buildings in Berk._

 _Last but not least, my dear Astrid, we haven't seen each other too much for the past few weeks, we haven't had some alone time. I have to admit I miss her dearly, yeah, she is always there in the official gatherings and the assemblies that I call for. I have to confess something, I call most of those assemblies just to see her standing there on the other side of the table. Of course, she is my betrothed, we still talk and all but sometimes I just need to be Hiccup and not Chief Haddock around her. She is just outstanding. Simply dazzling, ruling fits her so well. Now that her position was raised, well, I can say that right? After all, she is the chief's girlfriend and soon-to-be-wife, she is helping me so much with the Berk Guard and the distribution of tasks. I even may say that she is a better ruler than I am. For that, she is helping with all tribes in the Archipelago that already know about my father's incident, that may be coming along these weeks to review some matters of alliances and terms with me personally._

"The Berserkers, The Wingmaidens, The Outcasts and Defenders of the Wing have confirmed their assistance to this first reunion with you, Chief. I may add that this initial gathering is tomorrow" Astrid says with some letters in her hand and not making eye contact. _This is how it's been all this time, she treated me in a strict relation of Chief-Advisor. Or is she an advisor? I can't tell. I just know she has my back. To her, I'm just Chief Haddock in front of the people_.

"You are being colder than usual, Miss Hofferson" I say in a straight tone but looking at her with playful eyes. "How about you meet me at my chambers later so we can discuss this in private and arrange all the final details"

"Do you invite all your advisors to your chambers, Chief?" She says following my joke, looking directly at me and stopping for a moment. "If that is the case, your betrothed should watch out"

"No, just the ones that are the most valuable. In this case, Miss Hofferson, you are and have always been my second in command. As for my betrothed, I haven't seen her in weeks, I crave for her touch" I say all this in a more romantic and soft tone so I can get closer. "See you there then?" I say whispering in her ear.

"See you there, babe" She says before kissing my cheek and leaving the hall to return to her duties. _My thor, this woman will be the death of me. What can go wrong with this lady?_


	2. II

"Leading Berk suits you well, m'lady" He says while he rests his hands in his desk, staring at me with a look that I know well.

"Yeah, well, I born for this, babe" I say approaching him slowly. _I watch his lips, I have missed him so much._ "You must think that I haven't missed you"

"You seemed to be pretty fine with your duty of advisor only" He says taking away some parts of his armour to get on more comfortable clothes. I take a seat in his bed. "I miss everything as it used to be"

 _I feel a tremor in his voice. He has been going through a lot these past weeks. I watch him collapse in his chair. It has been a rough day, it was for me and I can't imagine how it was for him. My day consisted in checking the Vikings in Stoick's memorial statue, supervising the twins and their gathering of resources, passing by Berk's Guard to give direct orders from the chief and of course, check on my A-team._

"Hey, you will forget all your worries when Dagur, Heather, Mala and the others arrive. It will be like old times when we used to live in the edge. Come here now, you must be exhausted" _I want to comfort him, I spread my arms and he hugs me. I feel him melting and almost falling asleep._ "You know if Gobber or Valka saw as, like this, they will think that we are... You know"

"I actually don't mind right now, I love this, peace and quiet, just you and me. But, I thought we were going to discuss some formal details of tomorrow's chiefs gathering, future Mrs Haddock" He says muttering against my clothes and getting comfortable on my lap, after that he continues talking some incoherent words while lowering his voice until he stops talking. I pass my fingers through his hair and watch him to sleep.

 _I lose myself in thoughts of the past, when we were on the edge, memories with Heather and the gang. We have all grown. I haven't seen Heather in a while, she is Chieftainess of the Berserkers now. Dagur and Mala, Thor knows what those two are doing. The wingmaidens and the baby razorwhips, I bet Valka will be fascinated to see them all._ I get interrupted by the crack of the door.

"Oh, hey Astrid! Have you seen Hiccup?" Valka says in a worried but kind tone.

"Yeah, he is here" I say looking down at him, my fingers are still intertwined to his hair. _He looks so comfortable._ "He had a busy day"

"Yeah, I can only imagine. A guy like Hiccup, at his age, just wishes to explore the world and be free" She says getting closer to look at his son, she takes a seat in the bed by my side. "You have always been there for him, isn't it? You two seem pretty comfortable around each other and let's not talk about the chemistry" I blush a little.

"Sadly, no. I have not always been there for him, or anyone in that matter. When we were younger, he was an outcast. He didn't fit in and well, he was judged and bullying for that by the other kids. I only watched, I thought that if someone saw me with him, they would think I was weak too. How foolish I was. He turned out to be spectacular. I hope he has forgiven us for all those years of bad behaviour" I say in retrospective. _Everything that I said was true._

"But, then, how did he...?"

"Get me? How did we end up like this? That is all his doing" I say pointing at him. _He did everything, he changed everyone's mind when nobody expected it._

"Someday Astrid, you will tell me everything. But right now, you too need to rest. You can stay if you want. I know Hiccup wouldn't forgive me if I took you away from him right now" She says this caressing Hiccup's hair before she stands up. "Get comfortable, goodnight Astrid"

"Thank you and good night for you too, Mrs Valka"

"Don't call me like that dear, makes me feel old" She says before she closes the door in silence.

 _It's not the first time I have slept in Hiccup's place, neither in his bed. I guess Stoick always trusted us enough to know that we weren't going to try to produce children before the wedding. Even when we always mentioned that he wanted to have many grandkids, which made us blush every time. Tomorrow will be exciting, I hope nothing goes wrong._


	3. III

"Good morning, sleeping beauty" I wake up with Hiccup looking at me with those big green eyes.

"Good morning Chief. Ready for today?" I say while stretching up a little bit.

"I must admit that I'm a little nervous"

"Oh come on, today should be a relaxing day, only friends are coming and it will be easier for you"

"I hope it is because if they make this hard on me I better throw myself off the cliff"

"It's too early in the morning for your daily doses of sarcasm and suicidal thoughts. The sun is barely up and you are already stressing yourself up because of what, Dagur?" I say laughing as I sit down.

"I'm not Hiccup the dragon rider anymore, now I'm filling a bigger role as Chief right? I must live up to the expectations" He says starting to dress up.

"We all here know you well, you will be great babe" I say dressing up too.

"Good morning love birds, breakfast is ready downstairs" Valka says opening the door just a little to hear her voice.

"Thanks, mom!" Shouts Hiccup in response. "Should I call Gobber to save us from this meal?" He says whispering closer so Valka wouldn't listen through the door opening. "You know, my mother is not a very good cook. Heh, I must have something with bad cooks in the family because that yakno-"

"What did you just-"

"We should go downstairs, we don't want to keep my mom waiting, right?" He says with a nervous chuckle opening the door and going downstairs very fast.

 _This boy, did he just? Oh, he did and it's on. I will have my pay off but later._ I follow him downstairs where I found Valka putting up the table for us. _From what I have heard, Valka is not a good cook and Gobber is proof of that. We spend eating and talking, mostly talking about old memories and adventures. Hiccup told Valka some experiences we had with the chiefs that were coming, from how Dagur tried to kill us, multiple times, to how he ended up marrying Mala. Valka enjoyed all these stories and of course, with Hiccup's dramatic flair, who wouldn't?_ We were interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

"Good morning chief, I don't mean to intrude but the ships will be at the docks in approximately 10 minutes" Said Eret. "Good morning ladies, Valka, Astrid"

"Thank you, Eret, we will be there soon" Hiccup said before Eret left the doorway.

"You heard m'lady, our people await!" He said extending his hand for me to take it, how gallant can this man be? "We don't want to be late. Mom, you are going to love this" I laugh as I exit the Haddock's household. We mount our dragons and in no time, we arrive at the docks.

The gang is there, Gobber and also Eret. Also, all Berkians are watching from the distance, all eyes are on Hiccup.

"Almost late, Hiccup! You really don't want to fail on your first day of being an actual chief, don't you?" Says Snotlout trying to be light up the mood but failing terribly.

 _I see Hiccup rubbing his hands in nervousness. I get closer to stand up by his side and place his cold hands between mine._

"Calm down, we have done this a thousand times before. It will be like welcoming our friends after a long time"

"The difference is that now I'm chief and the whole Berk is watching. Yeah, I'm okay," He says chuckling and trying to hide his panic but failing.

The first ship to enter the docks is from the Berserkers. _Heather_. After almost two years we got to see her again, of course, this time in this conditions.

"Heather, Chief of the Berserkers has arrived" Announced one of her crew. _She stepped up after Dagur married Mala, it was a surprise for all of us but she handled well the situation, of course, she didn't fully rule because Dagur always visited and stayed for long periods of time in Berserker Island. But at the end, Heather was the sanest of the two, which means that basically, she made all the decisions, with Dagur or no Dagur present._

"It's good to be back after so long" She says looking around and then settling her eyes on Hiccup and me. "Oh Hiccup, I heard the news, I'm sorry about what happened" She says with a hug.

"Yeah, me too. I'm glad to have you here. Thank you for coming"

"Always so formal, Hiccup. Well, hello Astrid, we have a lot catching up to do" She says winking her eye and then giving me a tight hug. "I've missed you guys"

"And us?" Say the twins from behind. "How insensitive of you Heather"

"I've missed everyone" She says giggling. She has grown a little, this time she has her hair in a half braid, she still wears some metal in her clothing but this attire seemed to be much more formal than warrior clothes. She was carrying a pin of a razorwhip and the symbol of the Berserkers in her chest indicating she was the chief.

"How rude of me. This is my mother, Valka" Hiccup says politely,

"But- I thought- Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you Mrs Haddock" She says stretching a hand to Valka with a big smile.

"Hiccup and Astrid have told me marvellous things about you. You have a razorwhip, right? Beautiful dragons, great choice dear!" Says Valka smiling. _Hiccup sighs in relief, one less, three more to go._

"So, Heather, any thoughts in me, Snotlout being the ruler of Berserker island alongside you?" Says Snotlout approaching her dangerously.

"Not gonna happen. Ever. Or with anyone for that matter" She says firmly but happy. "Hey, pst, Astrid" She says in a low voice, she grabs my arm as we take some distance from Hiccup and the others. "How's Hiccup holding up?"

"He is fine" I say in a low voice so he couldn't hear. "He is doing a good job around here but you know how he is sometimes, he pressures himself too much"

"Yeah, well he has you. Astrid Hofferson, girlfriend and soon-to-be-his-wife, amazing. You must be having the time of your life" She says looking at me jokingly and teasingly.

"Heh, I- well, yeah. We haven't talked much about the marriage thing but, I don't know, we will have to see" I say a little embarrassed. _With all that happened, we haven't had time to talk about marriage or anything like it. I have been in all the Berk's official reunions but I have no actual role in it. Can say I'm an advisor? I really need to clarify this later with Hiccup. The next ship that is seen, holds two symbols, the Berserker and the Defenders of the Wing._


End file.
